These are both stills from the Abba video for Mamma Mia. It shows the camera going in and out of focus, thus switching the focus and attention from one person to the other. This has a great effect on the audience as the camera is almost manipulating where it wants their attention to be. I want to use this shot in our video in a scene with the main character and her boyfriend, so as to switch the viewers attention from one to the other to almost confuse the viewer and therefore portray the image that the characters are confused. They dont know what to do with themselves and are relying on eachother.

This is a screen grab of a shot from the Waking Up In Vegas video. The focus is on the coin and the two characters are completely out of focus. This is to put the emphasis on the coin and how important it is. I want a shot like this in our video as it gets across to the reader the storyline of how they have nothing left after being in Vegas. This shot is the perfect opening shot as it sums up the storyline really well in just one frame.

This is the official video for Waking Up In Vegas. Everything about the video represents the audiences image of Vegas. The costumes are colourful and glamorous and eye catching; the location is again glamorous, lit up, and full of people, and the Mis -En scene involves things like a deck of cards, cocktail glasses and generally things you'd associate with Vegas. This is the type of thing we will try to incorporate into our video. Here is a more detailed analysis.

Camera shots

The video begins with a cloesup of the two main characters faces. This gives the reader the abilility to read their facial expressions and get an understanding of how theyre feeling, which is quite clearly glum and down in the dumps. The camera is focused on Katy Perry (main character) and how her eyes are focused on something specific. The camera then pans to the left and focuses on the coin infront of her, with her face out of focus. This puts a huge emphasis on the coin and shows the audience how much they're relying on it and just how important it is. This gives the audience an immediate understanding on what the video is based on. Immediately after this shot, there is a medium- long shot of the characters, which if the first so far, and is a type of establishing shot. It shows the audience where the characters are and the storyline begins to unfold, with them standing in front of the slot machine. At this point Katy begins to mime along to the song, as if she is telling the story. This leads on to a close-up of the characters holding hands, and gives the viewer a sense of the characters relationship: they are close and united in the situation they face. The reader now feels as though they are a part of the plot and as though they know the characters. As soon as this feeling is developed, the viewer is likely to want to continue to watch to find out how the story unfolds, as they feel attached to the characters. Another close-up shows the audience the coin going into the slot and gives them a sense of anticipation. All these close-ups, one after the other make the reader feel more part of the plot and like they are living it themselves. After a shot of the slot machine shows they won the money, the next shot is a medium- close-up from in front of Katy but showing the profile of the other character. Her face is fully in focus whereas his is blurred out; this puts the entire focus on her face and her expression which is one of complete and utter surprise. The camera then jerkily zooms out to show the audience where they are, which creates a sense of excitement, as the characters are smiling and seem excited also.

The location then changes and there’s a medium shot of the both of them so you can see the background and that they are in a lit up street in Vegas. Its close enough for the viewer to see the excitement on their faces but also get a picture of where they are and the money they have in their hands. The location then changes again to a medium close up of them and a group of people sitting down; this shot enables the audience to see the characters clothes in detail. The camera then slowly zooms out to show that they are again, sitting at a table in a casino, and has started to repeat itself to give the audience an idea of how many times the characters are at the casino. This immediately leads on to a shot of a tall building as the pace of the song begins to fasten, and tilts down to a limousine pulling in, and as soon as the beat drops to go into the chorus, the characters get out of the limo in their glamorous outfits. This all fits in with the pace of the song nicely. There is a point of view shot, as though the audience are the main characters, and they're walking up the red carpet to be welcomed into Palms Hotel by the owners themselves. This makes the viewer feel a part of it, and as thought they're enjoying the success with them.

Once they are in the hotel and in the room, there is a shot over the shoulder of the main character who has his back to the camera, and Katy is facing towards it looking excited, and with the viewers attention fully on her. This shot also enables a view of the room. The camera is then in the corridor outside the room, giving the viewer a shot of Penn and Teller being thrown out by the main characters and all their bags being thrown at them. This brings an element of comedy to the video and makes the viewer feel involved, as they know the story so far and the journey they've been on.

The location then changes again, and the camera zooms in to a medium shot of the characters getting married. The zoom enables the audience to get a closer look at the costumes, and expressions of embarrassment on the characters face. The camera then slowly zooms in further and the characters look straight into the lens to coincide with the line “why am I wearing your class ring?”, this gives the impression that the characters are looking to the audience for support and an answer to the question, and makes the viewer feel involved with the story. It then cuts to poker legend Daniel Negreanu looking glum as he lost to them and pans quickly to the main characters who by contrast look happy and smug which coincides with the line "dont call your mother", and katy is wearing a red dress which is a reference to wealth and superiority. This shot continues the element of humour in the video as the audience see the upset looking man and with the quick pan they then realise the cause of his sadness, and see the big wide smile of Katy. The scene then changes again, to the doors of the casino being opened and the characters bounding through the doors, they walk past the camera which creates a feel as though they've left everyone behind and gives the viewer the impression that they are there with the characters and have been left behind also. Again, there are quick movements as the camera follows the keys that have been thrown at Katy. All these quick movements represent the fast paced life they're living, and give the impression that its hard to keep up with them. The song then continues into the chorus and the pace fastens, and so does the video and characters. They are racing down the street in their ferraris and to continue with the fast paced theme, they zoom past the camera and leave it behind, thus emphasising the speed and also leaving the audience behind. Then suddenly they are back at the casino again, and the repetition of being at the casino continues and gets across to the viewer the extent of the money theyre making as they're celebrating again.

Then a new location is brought into it, as they are at a bowling alley. The camera is on the floor and theyre standing up, and it then pans across following them as they slide down the alley. The camera is close to make the audience feel as though theyre in the video and theyre also able to see how happy Katy looks. The closeness of the camera makes them feel her emotions too. This scene is very short and the video then cuts to a long shot of the street, as the main characters are on carriages with a number of different people surrounding them, this is at the hight of their streak. The costumes are bright, opulent and eye catching. and the viewer knows the location as the shot is long enough to get in the "hotel and casino" sign. The hand held shot is used which creates a ragged, fast and jerky effect. This creates a "fly on the wall" effect and makes the reader feel as though they are in on the action and again portrays the fast pace of their lives. There is a medium-close up shot of a girl in a bright brue glittery costume, the camera is focused on the elephent in the background thus blurring out her face and draws the audiences attention to it, it also makes sure the girl is seen as just another person following these characters around. In contrast the camera then goes to a medium shot of Katy fully focusing on her, her costume is twice as big and when she out stretches her arm the camera follows it as though obeying her, emphasizing her importance and status.

The scene changes again, and theres a long shot of the main characters and several other people sitting at a long table, decorated with lots of different colours and with elvis impersonaters. The audience is able to see all this because of the long shot. It then cuts straight to a medium- close up of Katy, highlighting her importance and the lack of need to see anyone else in the shot. The closeness enables the viewer to see her expensive necklace and gold coloured dress, which is again a symbol of importance and wealth. Then follows a number of differenbt shots of the other main character, Elvis, Elvis and then back to a medium - close up of Katy, with a smug, happy look on her face. With the line "remember what you told me" the camera goes into a closeup of her face, as her expression softens and she looks emotional.

Ad the pace of the song slows down, the scene changes into a more demure one, of the main characters in the telephone box. It starts off a long shot, to establish the location, and the empty streets around them so that the viwers sole focus is on them, and the box creates a frame for this shot. They are cut off from everyone else and the empty streets highlight their own importance. The camera then zooms into a low angled closeup of the pair, which is a seperator between them and the audience. The viewer is looking up at the moment and thus not in it, this moment is shared by these two people only. The shot then cuts to a close up of them, at eye level, so now the viewer is the third person in this moment, they're sharing it with the couple. As they kiss the pace fastens up again, to create the kind of "fireworks" metaphor as they kiss. Straight after the kiss is when it all goes downhill, the scene changes to the hotel where they're arguing, and then back to the casino. The camera is looking down at the table and then tilts up to the characters to get a look at their facial expression. Except this time they dont look happy and Katy looks into the camera as if asking for help. The scene then changes between the casino and the hotel room, to again show the viewer how much they're in the casino, excpet this time, they're losing. Katy is in the hotel room, sitting down on a table and men surround her, all standing up, thus on a higher level and instating their superiority over her. They are taking everything away and the camera is slowly zooming out as if detaching the audience also from Katy. The scene then changes back to the casino and a close up of the chips with the characters in the background and blurred out, the chips are then taken away from them as they lose again, and the characters come into focus so the audience can see their facial expressions. The scene then changes back to the corridor they were in at the begionning, except this time theyre being thrown out of their rooms, and with special effects the men reverse what happened before and pick up their cards. There is a close up of the mens face, and this time they are the smug ones. At this point, with all the close ups and techniques used in the video, the audience feel attached to the main characters, and are feeling low with them. Then, to continue with the repetition theres a short shot at the casino and then its back to the hotel corridor where the camera is on the floor along with Katy to make the viewer feel in the situation with her. Its then back to the casino where the boyfriend is fighting for his chips as theyre getting taken away, and then back to the corridor again, where theres an eye level hand held shot from the viewers point of view as though theyre chasing Katy up the corridor out of the hotel. At this point is where the drama seems to come to an end as they have lost everything, which is when it cuts back to the characters at the beginning in the laundry shot, and a close up of Katys face. The camera pans to the right to focus on the coin and to keep with the fast pace, the scene then cuts back to Katy running through the corridor, and then eventually back to the laundry room, where the scene is the same as it was at the start of the video. This leaves the audience feeling slightly confused..."was it a day dream?" "Did that all really happen?" or "Are they back there having lost everything the first time?"

Brainstorm

Sound/Music

Pace – The pace of the music during the chorus is faster than for each verse. This represents the fast pace of Vegas and the idea of the characters being in a bad situation for the verse. We will represent this in the video by fastening the pace for the chorus. I.e. The character is walking slowly but as soon as the beat drops and the chorus kicks in, the character starts running. This will create a good visual representation of the song for the audience and match the pace well.

The theme of the song is that the characters are in Vegas and have got themselves into a bad situation. The video will represent this idea, and represent Vegas as much as possible with bright colours, and the eccentricities of Vegas.


Mise – en Scene

With a theme like Vegas, Mise en Scene is hugely important. Vegas has a world renowned image and it’s important that we incorporate this into our video. For the opening scene we could get footage of a room covered in drinks bottles, clothes, money and lots of different things that represent the image of Vegas and set the scene. The movie “The Hangover” is a good example of the type of Mise -en Scene I want to incorporate and I will upload a clip that shows this.

Another hugely important feature of Vegas is costumes. The costumes in the music videos will be as bright and glamorous as possible. The video will have an opulence about it which is a huge factor of Vegas. One of the lyrics in the song goes “dressed up like Elvis”, for this lyric I’m hoping to have someone dressed up in an Elvis costume to give a really good visual to the audience.

Locations

Again, with a theme like Vegas, location is hugely important. Vegas is known for being very lively and full of lights, clubs and casinos, and we need to portray this image as well as possible. The west end in London, would be the perfect place for filming as its always busy and lit up. I want to get one particular piece of footage where there are thousands of people walking around and fasten it up. This will give the audience a good image in their mind of the buzz of the place and give them a real feel of the atmosphere.

Introduction

This media blog will document each stage leading to my final music video. Ill post all my ideas and inspirations and anything I think is relevent. Im am working on the video with Lauren Cansick. We both decided on using the song Waking up in Vegas - Katy Perry because the songs theme is Vegas, and the idea of getting into trouble in Vegas. We chose this song because visually you can be very creative with it. Vegas is re-known for being over the top and opulent and this can be portrayed really well in the music video, by using bright costumes, choosing the right location, and incorporating really good Mis -En Scene. We chose a music video over a film trailor as its alot easier and more appropriate to be creative with music videos, whereas film trailors tend to follow a specific guideline relating to the genre. With a music video you can play around with things and the video doesnt have to relate to the lyrics and it can still make sense. Wheras a film trailor is alot more rigid. Im very excited to see the developement of the video and hope you enjoy the process and final version.

This is a mood board representing "pop" as this is the genre we chose for our video. We chose it as pop music has an aim of appealing to a general audience rather than a particular sub culture, and has a very youthful appeal to it. It is enjoyed by many dofferent types of people and all over the world. My mood board contains two images of Andy Warhols pop art. I chose these images as Warhol wanted to paint the most popular things in his generation for example coca cola. Things that represent that time, hence "pop" art. This is what pop music is like, its mainstream and very commercial and appeals to the current generation its in. One of the things that is popular in our generation is "the simpsons", it is aimed at the same type of audience that pop music is aimed at. Its very commercial and involves subjects that are relevent in this particular generation. I have a picture of Elvis Presley in there as again, he was the most popular artist of his time, and kind of kicked off the pop genre as his music was a much lighter version of rock and so couldnt justify being called rock. It much more suited pop. In the bottom right hand corner is a oicture of graffiti by popular graffiti artist Banksy. He sprays things that are very relevent in todays culture and are aimed at the so called "ipod generation", it has the same type of audience as pop music. The bottom left hand corner is a picture of a fashionable teenager on her phone, i think this picture represents the same type of audience that listen to pop music. Young fashionable people who have grown up with ipods and phones, and are into "popular culture". It is also a very colourful tyoe of genre. Its light and bubbly so i wanted my mood board to reflect this. The same will be with the video, it will be very colourful and involve that type of "popular culture" idea with fashionable teenagers etc.